Knee and Hip Physiotherapists in London I Work With

A physiotherapist is a registered health professional who helps people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement and exercise, hands on treatment, education and advice. For a knee or hip that means assessing how the joint moves and how strong the muscles around it are, working out what is driving the pain, and then building a programme to change it.

'Physiotherapist' is a title protected by law. To use it, a clinician must complete an approved degree in physiotherapy and register with the Health and Care Professions Council, and most are also members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Many go on to further training, in some cases to master's level, and with additional qualifications some can request scans, inject joints and prescribe medicines.

A physiotherapist starts by working out why the joint hurts, then builds strength in the muscles that support it, restores movement, and guides a gradual return to walking, work and sport. For arthritis that usually means strengthening and fitness work that reduces pain and improves function. For injuries such as a ligament or meniscus tear it means a staged programme, whether or not an operation is needed, and after surgery it is the physiotherapy that turns a good operation into a good result.

Yes, I believe it does, and I have seen it change knees and hips that patients had almost given up on. It is also fair to be honest about what the research shows, because the best physiotherapists I know are honest about it too. NICE recommends therapeutic exercise as a core treatment for everyone with osteoarthritis. The largest review of the trials for the knee, a 2024 Cochrane review of 139 trials and more than 12,000 people, found that exercise probably improves pain, function and quality of life, with an average benefit that was real but modest, and the 2026 review for the hip found a smaller average benefit again. An average hides a great deal though, because it includes people who managed very little alongside people who trained properly for months, and in my experience the patients who commit to it tend to do better than the average suggests. For injuries the picture is encouraging too. In a Dutch trial of 321 people aged 45 to 70 with a meniscal tear and a knee that was not locking, physiotherapy was not inferior to keyhole surgery over two years, and in a Swedish trial of 121 young adults with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, those who began with rehabilitation and had surgery only if they needed it did as well at five years as those operated on early, with about half never having the operation. The reviews did not find one type of exercise clearly better than another, so what follows is my opinion and not a trial result. I think the most valuable thing most people can do is build muscle with resistance training, ideally in a gym, where the load can be increased steadily and safely. If you cannot get to a gym then resistance bands at home are a good place to start, but I really do recommend the gym at least once a week. Physiotherapy does not fix everything, and some knees and hips do need an operation, which is exactly why I want your physiotherapist and me working together.

Physiotherapy is an active process. The sessions are where you are assessed, taught and progressed, but the change happens in the work you do between them, and for me that work belongs in the gym. Once a week is the minimum and, done properly, in my experience once a week is enough to make a real difference. Twice a week is ideal for the lower body, but I would much rather you went once a week for the rest of your life than three or four times a week for two or three months and then never again. It works like putting a small amount of money away regularly, where the gains compound over the years simply because you kept going. I know how hard that is with a job, children or parents to look after, because I live it too, and I still lose two or three weeks at a time when work and family life get busy. What matters is that I go back, and that is all I ask of my patients. Some discomfort when you start is normal, and national guidance is clear that it settles and that continuing is good for the joint. It also works best alongside other things, which means eating enough protein, sleeping well, keeping to a healthy weight, and telling your physiotherapist honestly what you have and have not managed so that the plan fits your life.

There is no single best knee or hip physiotherapist in London. The right one for you is someone who examines you properly, gives you a plan that progresses as you get stronger, and is close enough that you will actually go. The practices on this page are the ones I know and work with across west and central London.

For most knee pain, seeing a physiotherapist first is the right start. See a knee surgeon early if the knee is locked, cannot be straightened or keeps giving way after an injury, and go to A&E the same day if the knee is hot, swollen and very painful and you have a fever.

Yes. The NICE guideline on osteoarthritis recommends therapeutic exercise, such as muscle strengthening and general aerobic fitness, for everyone with the condition, and stronger thigh and hip muscles take some of the load that would otherwise pass through the joint.

Yes, almost always. The operation repairs or replaces the structure, and physiotherapy is what brings back the movement, the strength and the confidence in the leg, so it is worth choosing your physiotherapist before the operation and not after it.

No. You can contact any of these practices directly. If you are using private medical insurance, check with your insurer first, because some ask for a referral from a GP or a consultant before they will cover physiotherapy.

You can book online, call 0207 859 4016 or email admin@ortholongevity.co.uk. I see patients at Lanserhof at The Arts Club in Mayfair and at Cromwell Hospital in Kensington.